Another Day
by Miss Nemesis
Summary: Shane and the Farmer share a conversation about how they first met. (Farmer isn't the reader and uses they/them pronouns.)


It was one of the more calm days on the farm. The rain was coming down just enough that meant that once the animals were initially tended to, there was nothing left to take care of. As the animals were safely tucked into their respective buildings and properly fed, Shane and his spouse took to peacefully watching the rainfall from the window of their home. Shane had prepared coffee for them to come in to, and they sipped quietly, rain hitting the roof was the only sound to be heard. He put an arm around them as they nestled against him with a content sigh.

"How did we get here?" He asked, gazing out at their land fondly. He knew he hadn't exactly done much to get everything to its current state, but it was both of theirs nonetheless.

"What do you mean?" They glanced up at him and tried to follow his gaze out the window as if there was something specific he was looking at. "The farm?"

"I mean with everything." He explained, "The farm, this house, us. It's kind of hard to believe it's all real sometimes."

They turned into him more, wrapping an arm around his waist. "I'd say it was all hard work."

"Yeah. I don't know how you put up with me at first. I was such an ass to you."

"You were an ass to everyone."

"And I still am!"

They laughed, "No, now you're just grumpy."

"Well, I don't know how you still put up with this grumpy asshole every day. I know I wouldn't be able to."

They shifted a little, pulling him closer. "Because I love you, silly. Even when you're grumpy." They paused for a few moments, thinking about what they were going to say. "Actually… It was pretty hard at first."

This was new territory, they've never talked about this before. It was obvious that they had more to say, but didn't know how to or if they should. He waited for them to be ready, rubbing little circles on their shoulder to let them know that it was okay to speak.

When they did, their voice was small, almost drowned out by the rain. "I was scared of you at first. I wanted to be friendly and get along with everyone, but it seemed like even just saying hi made you hate me. That's why after the first few days I didn't try so hard." He could feel them playing with the bottom of his shirt, but he tried not to think about it too much. He'd been wrong to act like that then and they knew that he regretted it now.

"I felt bad not talking to you while still going out of my way to talk to everyone else, but I didn't want to give you more of a reason not to like me, so I just stayed away. Except for on your birthday. Now I don't know if that had been such a good idea either. I probably should have given you something else…"

He remembered that night well. When he first noticed someone approaching him, he got irritated like usual and was about half a second away from telling them to fuck off before he saw the tense smile on their face as they offered him a beer. 'Happy Birthday, Shane.' they'd barely managed to say between handing over the drink and bolting away. It was that that made him remember that it was his birthday in the first place. At the time he'd hardly spoken to them, never even told them his name and never bothered to learn theirs. They were just someone else to ignore and push away until they figured out that he wasn't worth their time. But despite his efforts - which until that point he'd thought had worked - they were still being nice to him. Almost everyone in the town was nice, at least on the surface level, but he could tell that they were just doing it for the sake of being nice. For some reason with this new person, it felt different.

"I was surprised when you danced with me at the Flower Festival. But to be honest… I had been hoping to dance with someone else. But they said no, and I panicked. It was like if I didn't dance, then I was separating myself from the community. So I scrambled and started asking anyone who I thought might agree." They paused momentarily, "By the time I got to you, I was expecting and kind of hoping you'd say no, too. That way I wouldn't make a fool of myself." After a second they sighed, "I'm sorry if knowing that ruins that moment."

"Not at all." He replied. "I already kinda knew that, anyway."

They pulled back to look at him, a horrified expression plastered on their features. "What?!"

"Yep." He kept a calm, playful tone. "You went to Sebastian and Abigail first. They must have fit into your type, huh?" Their cheeks colored and he knew he was right. "You looked sad when they turned you down, and more and more anxious with each person you asked." It was his turn to pause carefully, their eyes seeming to stare into his soul. "I knew I was your last hope."

He saw the hurt flash on their expression as they averted their gaze. "But you know what?" He continued, their eyes turning back to him, "If you hadn't of done that and had come to me first, I probably would have said no. But I saw how bad you looked and didn't want to be the one to put that same expression on your face. That's why when you asked I said yes."

"So you didn't really want to dance with me?"

"Not particularly, no." He'd been planning to sit back and watch everyone else dance.

They smiled a little, leaning against him again. "I guess we're even then." He'd thought that that was the end of the conversation, but then they kept going. "Then there was that night on the dock." Uh oh. "Up until then, you were just someone who didn't want to be around me. But then you danced with me and then that night I noticed that you were just really, really sad. And I thought that even if you didn't like me, I wanted to be able to help you if you wanted it." Their hand clenched his shirt as their tone hardened slightly. "When you told me not to make drinking a habit because I still had a future ahead, my. My heart hurt…

"I knew you were implying that you thought you didn't have a future and that's just... That was awful." His chest tightened as it became harder for them to speak clearly. This topic was always hard for them, both of them, but he listened. "I was just starting to realize that you were different than I thought, and maybe you didn't actually hate me, and that you were just sad and lonely and- and-..." They took a shaky breath. "You went so long feeling like that, I-I can't imagine what I'd- if you weren't-"

"It's alright." He soothed, pulling them flush against his chest, "I'm here now and I love you. That's what matters."

They sniffed and wiped their face. "You're right. I'm sorry, I-"

"It's okay. I'm sorry I put you through that."

"I'm glad you did." Wrapping their arms around him, they nuzzled into his shirt. "I love you so much. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it means I can be with you for another day."


End file.
